"Loki really has been secretly protecting Thor this whole time. For all his talk about wanting to kill his brother, he won't let anyone else lay a finger on him."
In truth, Adam had sensed Loki's presence the moment the trickster god started pacing back and forth.
Adam had no magic and no divine power. He couldn't see the invisible Loki with his own eyes. But he had countless Xenomorphs... which meant countless "eyes."
Every step Loki took disturbed the sand on the ground, stirred the dust in the air, and shifted the flow of the atmosphere. All of it fell within the sensory range of the Xenomorphs, living weapons built for war. Even without seeing him, focusing on those tiny details revealed Loki's location and movements.
Adam simply hadn't called him out on it. If Loki's invisibility were truly flawless and could ignore basic laws of physics, he wouldn't need to compete with Thor at all... he could have pinned his brother down and beaten him effortlessly.
Honestly, the moment Loki spotted the Queen, Adam had already been calculating whether she could take him down alone.
The answer was no.
The reason was simple. This universe's Loki was almost certainly not the movie version... or Earth-199999 Loki. The real Loki was a god whose raw divine power and mastery of magic were legendary across the Nine Realms. That reputation wasn't exaggeration.
Just one fact proved it: Loki's regenerative healing was stronger than Wolverine's.
Even if Loki stood still and let people kill him, it would be incredibly difficult to actually finish the job.
Add in his Frost Giant heritage, centuries of careful tutelage from Odin and Frigga, a full arsenal of enchanted gear, and a mind treacherous to the core... he wasn't the reckless fighter Thor was, which meant fewer openings for an opponent to exploit.
That gave Loki the confidence to declare himself the second-greatest sorcerer in the Nine Realms right in front of Kaecilius. Adam, watching from afar through his Xenomorphs, had to admit it was true.
Kaecilius, of course, refused to accept it. He didn't think the Ancient One's top disciple... or Dormammu's favored enforcer... would lose to some Asgardian.
Even if that Asgardian was a god.
"You do have some skill... reaching such heights in both divine power and sorcery. I see now. You're the God of Mischief, Loki. But all that strength is just the accumulation of a long life."
Kaecilius lashed out with the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, the scarlet chains cracking viciously across Loki's body... only to pass straight through. He sneered. "If I had a thousand years to train, I wouldn't need divine power. Magic alone would be enough to end you in one strike!"
After all, he had reached his current level in mere decades.
Loki kept casting spells, conjuring multiple illusory duplicates, his brow furrowed. He had to acknowledge that this Midgardian sorcerer was formidable.
No wonder the Ancient One and Dormammu had taken notice.
But he was still inferior.
"This world has never been fair, has it? Some are born gods, others born worthless. Some earn everyone's approval no matter what they do, while others can never measure up no matter how hard they try!"
Loki's thoughts turned to Thor, shining so brightly in Asgard, and fresh hatred surged through him, threatening to swallow his mind whole.
Kaecilius laughed coldly. "Ridiculous. Birth is just an excuse. I earned the power to kill a so-called god through years of relentless effort!"
"You made one fatal mistake," Loki replied. "You severely underestimated the strength of the gods… mortal."
Loki created more duplicates, dodging the whipping crimson chains. A direct hit from those would hurt even his incredible healing... they were forged from demonic power borrowed from Cyttorak.
The two master sorcerers were fighting in earnest now, unleashing devastating spells without restraint. Whether to prove who truly deserved the title of second-greatest mage or simply to kill the other and remove an obstacle, they held nothing back.
One thing was certain: after this battle, both would need a long time to recover. No one could say how badly their bodies and minds would suffer after paying the price to so many cosmic entities.
Given their talent and backing, those higher powers probably wouldn't drain them completely dry.
"What a magnificent display of magic," Adam murmured, watching the duel. "Just how strong must the Ancient One be?"
At the same time, he was pummeling a heavily enhanced mutated creature with reinforced fists. His clothes were torn, revealing powerful, perfectly sculpted arms and dense, beautifully proportioned muscle.
Different muscle groups fired in perfect coordination as Adam rained blows down on the creature. Though its defenses had been greatly strengthened, they weren't impenetrable yet. Adam was slowly hammering through its armor with heavy punches, planning to beat it half to death before implanting a parasite.
"Just how much of the Juggernaut's power did that leader absorb? Or rather, how much of Cyttorak's power does this universe's Juggernaut even possess? Either way, this thing is nowhere near Celestial level."
Adam glanced up. Another ordinary mutated creature had received the Juggernaut's abilities from its leader and swelled into a massive, hulking brute.
The tide of battle was clearly shifting. The leader could finally move freely instead of being swarmed by more than a dozen Xenomorphs.
The scales were tipping.
Bang!
Thor, seeing Adam still fighting, forced himself to rally. He looked around, grabbed a rock from the ground, and hurled it hard at one of the creatures.
Good effort, Thunder God.
"Should I deploy the Queen now?" Adam wondered, gripping the enhanced creature's throat.
Loki and Kaecilius were both troublesome opponents. Sending the Queen would at least tie one of them down for a while.
As for the Queen dying… as long as even one Xenomorph survived in a safe location, she could always be reborn.
Adam's mind stirred with an idea.
In the travel pack he had set aside, one of the Xenomorph eggs cracked open on its own. A facehugger burst out, scuttling rapidly toward the pinned creature and completing the implantation.
Thor glanced over in confusion but quickly lost interest. He was in a numb, detached state. Only the fact that Adam... the man who had saved his life... was still fighting kept him going. His Asgardian pride wouldn't let him owe a debt and do nothing.
"You strengthen one of your kind, I'll implant one," Adam said calmly. "Let's see who lasts longer."
If things got desperate, he could pull back, have the Queen lay eggs somewhere safe, and return with fresh facehuggers to pick off the remaining mutated creatures one by one. Every enhanced creature they took out permanently weakened the leader's total power.
The mutated creatures had limited numbers... once one died, it was gone forever. Xenomorphs were different. If not for concerns about drawing global attention before he had enough top-tier strength, Adam could have raised an army of hundreds or even thousands in minutes. Given more time, tens of thousands would be possible.
As long as he dragged this out and stayed alive, the mutated creatures would lose.
Adam sensed that most of the creatures that had appeared were already dealt with by his Xenomorphs. Including the leader, only about ten remained.
"So what's your choice?" he called out. "Take advantage of your current edge and flee with the survivors while you still can? Or keep fighting and empower even more of them? You'd be burning through your own reserves. Once I break through your defenses…"
Adam looked down at the implanted creature slipping into unconsciousness, then met the leader's gaze.
The leader's answer was to keep fighting. It wouldn't give up easily.
"Interesting. I'm curious why you showed up here in the first place. Even if Thor drew you in, it means you were already nearby. Without him, what was the purpose of migrating your group?" Adam asked with genuine interest.
Just as he decided to commit fully and fight these creatures to the end...
Whoosh!
A figure moving at astonishing speed raced across the landscape. From high above, it would look like a streak of light cutting across the horizon, accompanied by two companions.
"Only a handful of people move at that level of speed. So it's the Eternals. The guests I've been waiting for have finally arrived." Adam's eyebrow rose.
Odin, ruler of the Nine Realms, had been beaten by Arishem a thousand years ago. Now one of Odin's sons had lost his powers and appeared on Earth. It made perfect sense that the Eternals, forced back into the world, would show up.
He wondered whether this was under new orders from Arishem.
"Don't worry. We're here to deal with the mutated creatures."
A woman of immense authority stood at the front of the group.
She was Ajak, leader of the eleven Eternals, possessing incredible regenerative abilities and the power to communicate directly with Arishem.
One of the burly men charged straight at the mutated leader and delivered a powerful slap.
Adam recognized him... Gilgamesh, renowned for his immense strength and skill with devastating open-hand strikes.
The woman with superhuman speed, Makkari, stood silently beside Ajak as her protector. At the first sign of real trouble, she would whisk Ajak away.
"Why isn't Ikaris here? Is he dead?" Adam asked, scanning the group.
Of the eleven Eternals, only about five were truly combat-effective.
Besides Ikaris, there was Kingo, who specialized in energy projection... he wasn't here either. Then there was Thena, the warrior whose awakening memories had driven her into a state of madness. She was more likely to attack her own kind than fight alongside them.
So Ajak had brought only the two combat-capable Eternals she could rely on.
"He hid the existence of this mutated group in Alaska from us, so he has been exiled," Ajak said coolly. "We should work together. Our priority is eliminating the mutated creatures."
"Your words lack sincerity. Who knows what schemes you're hiding? Once these creatures are gone, your people might turn on me. After all, you already have a precedent with Ikaris."
"That was a misunderstanding. Your Xenomorphs look too similar to the mutated creatures, so Ikaris..."
"I'm not interested in your explanations, lady. I just want to know where you people actually stand. The whole world is looking for you. Does every one of your operations rely on the speedy lady carrying you around the planet?"
While speaking, Adam glanced down at the enhanced creature beginning to stir and pinned it again.
With Gilgamesh leading the charge alongside the Abomination Xenomorph and the others, the mutated creatures were once again suppressed. It bought Adam valuable time.
Ajak clearly knew he was stalling, but she was wise. Though displeased, she paused and then said, "We have a far greater mission. We can discuss the future later. Right now, we must eliminate the creatures that prey on humanity."
"Kill the mutated creatures, help humanity multiply faster, and achieve your goals?" Adam asked as he gripped the awakening creature beneath him.
Ajak gave him a long, searching look. "Ikaris was right. You do know things… I cannot allow these creatures to continue harming humans. Besides, even if we ignored them, there isn't enough time."
The Celestial growing at the Earth's core would mature soon and awaken.
The planet was headed toward apocalypse.
"Unfortunately, the Eternals have more than one enemy. The moment you appeared here, I already called in a rather petty ally… and some of his people are better at spatial movement than your runner." Adam sensed something and shook his head.
Things were about to get lively.
Back in New York, Raven had just spoken with Magneto.
Through the chestburster still inside Raven, Adam relayed the situation in real time. Raven immediately contacted Magneto.
Sure enough, a swirl of red smoke appeared, and Nightcrawler teleported Magneto in.
Adam suddenly thought of something and his expression turned odd.
"Eternals and mutated creatures, all in one place. Last time we weren't prepared and many of you escaped. That won't happen again."
The moment Magneto saw Ajak, his aged face hardened into a cold, sharp expression. Ajak's own face changed dramatically.
Just as Magneto prepared to unleash a massive magnetic field to seal off the entire area... sensing and controlling every metallic element in the air and underground... he suddenly let out a soft sound of surprise and turned toward the hammer lying on the ground.
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